02 January 2012

Happy New Year from Cycle Monkey!


Greetings from our nation's capital! For the past few months, Cycle Monkey has been serving you from the East Coast -- Washington, DC to be exact.

Relocating from Berkeley has triggered some interesting new experiments in the Monkey Lab, while allowing for us to carry on some key Cycle Monkey traditions.

From the start, Cycle Monkey has been a cycle-powered business, with several bikes ferrying goods to local customers and the post office to ship packages to those more distant. For large shipping days, we pull out our cargo bike from Bilenky Cycle Works (Philadelphia, PA). With this bike, we can stack the packages high on the front platform and fill up paniers on the rear rack. Not only does this elicit smiles along the route, but also challenges folks to rethink how bicycles can be used.

Adding to its uses, we have found the cargo bike to be the perfect ride home from the local metro station. There's nothing quite like it in the Kiss and Ride area! Katie has found new joy in railing corners while sitting on the platform, but sometimes wishes she had control of the brakes. Regardless, this experiment has made our family transition to living without a car that much more fun.

Biking is a cornerstone of our business and family. We would like to share this love of cycling with you through this blog. From the Monkey Lab, we will feature our favorite bike builds, components, builders, riders, and rides. Happy pedaling!

2 comments:

  1. Hi Neil -

    Congratulations on launching the Cycle Monkey blog. I'll keep an eye on future developments. Your car free business model strikes a cord. One of my daughters was driving home from a New Years Eve party when my car had the misfortune of throwing a timing chain. The engine is toast and we now have a large paper weight to dispo. Meanwhile, my Rohloff equipped mountain bike pedals onward cheaply and reliably.

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  2. Love that photo in front of the Washington monument. Gorgeous bike, beautiful scenery, creative pose. It is inspiring to see how you are trying to run a bicycle powered business, Neil. Looking forward to reading this blog and seeing what you are up to.

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